Escaping the Drift with John Gafford - Finding Purpose Amidst Life's Challenges with Barbara Majeski

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

Barbara Majeski, the vibrant TV personality and founder of the More Life Collective, graces our podcast with her inspiring story of resilience and transformation. Known for her appearances on major shows like the Today Show and Fox and Friends, Barbara opens up about her battle with stage three colon cancer and the blindsiding challenges of a difficult divorce. Her journey is a testament to the power of positivity and determination, as she shares how these experiences became catalysts for profound personal growth and self-reliance. Through our conversation, she offers invaluable insights on overcoming life's unpredictability, emphasizing the importance of setting sustainable health and fitness practices and committing to personal goals with clarity and purpose.   Growing up in New Jersey, Barbara's early life experiences in a family with a strong genetic history of twins and special needs taught her empathy and instilled a deep commitment to service. With a sibling affected by fragile X syndrome, she learned firsthand about responsibility and advocacy, leading to her receiving a humanitarian award in 2015. As we discuss her upbringing, Barbara recounts how these experiences shaped her empathetic outlook and inspired her to become a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. Her story is a powerful reminder of how personal adversities can fuel a lifelong dedication to making a difference in the world.   Barbara's journey from a career in community health education and door-to-door sales to becoming a television personality in her forties is nothing short of remarkable. She shares her determination to break into television despite facing age-related challenges, and how reframing obstacles as opportunities led her to unexpected success on the Today Show. We also explore the power of giving and personal accountability, highlighting how helping others can empower individuals and create a ripple effect of positive change. As we wrap up, Barbara's message of self-reliance and overcoming adversity resonates deeply, encouraging listeners to take charge of their destiny and embrace opportunities through service and commitment.   CHAPTERS    (00:00) - Escape the Drift (03:30) - Life's Challenges Shape Empathy and Service (15:12) - Building Resilience Through Adversity (23:38) - Navigating Unexpected Adversity and Resilience (34:42) - Embracing Opportunities Through Service (39:43) - Taking Accountability and Taking Action (51:23) - Setting Sustainable Health and Fitness Practices (54:56) - Commitment and Clarity in Goal Setting (01:03:02) - Self-Reliance and Overcoming Adversity   💬 Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Tell us all about it in the comment section below!    ☑️  If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford  ************* 💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space.   ➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company.   ➡️ Streamline Home Loans - An independent mortgage bank with more than 100 loan officers. The Simply Group, A national expansion vehicle partnering with large brokers across the country to vertically integrate their real estate brokerages.   *************   ✅ Follow John Gafford on social media:   Instagram ▶️ / thejohngafford   Facebook ▶️ / gafford2   🎧 Stream The Escaping The Drift Podcast with John Gafford Episode here: Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9 Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283    *************   #escapingthedrift #barbaramajeski #resilience #transformation #personalgrowth #empathy #service #adversity #positivity #determination #healthandfitness #commitment #personalgoals #selfreliance #overcomingchallenges #philanthropy #accountability #sustainablehabits #goalsetting #personalandprofessionalgrowth #empoweringmessage

So much crazy goes on from this because at the end of the day, six months later after getting that award, I got diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. And now escaping the drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you want to pad the greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again, back again with another episode of Like It Says in the Opening Man, the podcast that gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And today, ladies and gentlemen,

today, in this day after the election, when a lot of the country anyway is wheeling and trying to figure out what to do. I got a guest, not in studio. She's where she is and I'm where I am. But this is a guest that, man, I saw her on the gram and she came flying down. And I just started doing a little bit of research on this person and I kind of got into it, man.

I was like, man, this is a person that's kind of got it figured out, has had that adversity in her life. She's had some things that have stepped up and hit her in the face and managed to keep pushing forward in a way that her view on life and just watching some of the stuff she does is really impressive. She is a frequent guest of shows like the Today Show, Fox and Friends, those sorts of things. She is the founder of the More Life Collective. She is the host of her

very own Bearing It All podcast. And ladies and gentlemen, we are glad to have her on the podcast today to get her point of view. This, ladies and gentlemen, live in the flesh, is Barbara Majewski. Barbara. Yes. Great to see you. How are you? I'm doing great. I mean, the election is over. We know what we've got. She conceded we can continue on with our lives.

Right. The sun came up today. The clouds are out. The world is not falling apart. Here you go. My newsfeed is hysterical right now with the memes and the... It's all good, but at least it's, you know. It's never, you know, and something I posted yesterday, I mean, this is like early in the day,

like early when voting first started and I made this comment. I'm just curious. We're not going to get political, but I'm curious your thoughts on this. Cause I said, not supporting whoever wins the election tonight is like going to the doctor and hoping they misdiagnose you. Don't you have to kind of root for whoever you got to kind of root for them because rooting against them is kind of rooting against yourself. It's true. I mean, you've got to find what, you know, what speaks to you and pick your team, like get your Jersey on, get in the game. But, you know, some people aren't different. They're not really affected by the ebbs and flows of politics. So I can understand

there have been elections in my youth that I was very meh about. So this one was a little deeper, for sure. Yeah, it was. And, you know, I'm glad it's over. Because, you know, me being in the business that I'm in and needing to advertise, holy crap, everything just got way cheaper today. It got a lot cheaper. Amen. Oh, it's hard. Our text message.

It's stopped. I can put something in some... People will answer the phone again for my people when they call. I can put something in somebody's mailbox that is not buried with 800 other things. And man, clicks just got way cheaper on the interwebs, which I like. So I was like, you know, high performing people, I like to do this nature versus nurture deal, right? So I like to kind of go back to the beginning of your life and how you grew up and you had kind of extreme circumstances, just got a lot of twins in

your life, I think, and including one of your siblings had special needs. So we talked about that and what it was like growing up in that household? Where did you grow up? Tell me about that. Yeah, so it looks like you've done your homework. So I appreciate that. That's great. And yes, I grew up in New Jersey

and I'm one of two sets of twins. I have a twin brother. I have younger twin brothers. So we're one of two sets and my mom's a triplet. So it runs in the family now. God gives you, you can handle, and God made sure I just had three separate ones. So I do not have twins. How far, just out of curiosity, because it'll frame kind of your mom a little bit for me.

How far apart were the births for your mom? How much older? Three years. I'm the older, and I'm the oldest of the twin set, which is very important in twin world. And the younger set is three years younger. The interesting part is that both pregnancies, they told my mother she was having one and two came out. Oh, wow.

Yeah. My dear friend Kendra Todd had two sets of twins inside of 18 months and she had four in diapers. I was like, dude, that's aggressive. But your mom still, three years old, a new twin. She was us one. But one of your siblings had special needs, yes? Yes. So twins run in our family as well as a condition known as fragile X, which is a lot like Down syndrome. It's a genetically inherited form of neurological impairment. And I always like refer to my childhood as growing up Schwartz because it was just so like chaotic and funny, but it was also during a time which special needs

was more of like, you were kind of an outcast, you were shunned, people were like, Oh, I'm so sorry, the schools weren't very efficient with how to handle it. They didn't even know what to do. Like now it's just light and day from the get go, you're really taught a trade, as opposed to back in the 80s, the 70s 80s. It was just like he was doing it was just not that great. They had a special ed class, but it wasn't as what it is today But I would also think that that time of growing up when things were a little less When people were a little less empathetic, especially kids younger kids I can imagine that there was probably some some sticking up you had to do for your sibling. I can imagine

Go ahead No, no, I can imagine. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no. I was going to ask if that shaped your empathy. I was going to ask if that shaped the amount of empathy you have, if you think that that was a cornerstone or was there other than? Well, there's just this crazy incident that happened when I was six. So I'm six, my twin brother and I are six, the younger set is three, and I'm giving the younger set a bath. Why a six-year- set is three, and I'm giving the younger set

a bath. Why is six-year-old is giving three-year-old twins a bath? This is the 1970s, everybody. So this is okay back then. Yeah. Because mom had four kids. Mom had four kids. One week break, and I was like the mother's helper, and I felt like these were my little

baby dolls, and you only put the water six inches high, whatever. And I'm playing patty cake with Michael and I always preferred playing with Michael patty cake because Stephen, his motor skills weren't there, believe it or not, I can remember that. But I turned to play patty cake with Stephen and he was just laying on like the side of the bathtub and I didn't understand what was going on. I was like, Steven, let's play patty cake. And he was not responding. So I called downstairs and my mother came up, my father came up. It ended up being a big scene. What my brother had was a seizure.

So I took him out of the bath and ran him to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I didn't see him again for almost two months. He ended up stopped eating. He slipped into a coma. And I was just six years old waiting for somebody to bring home one of my baby dolls. The twins were mine. They were in my life. They belonged to me. And before Steven came home, my mother sat my twin brother and I down and she said, the good news is Steven's coming home, but you have to be kind to him. He moved slower. And it was at that time they had realized that he had had neurological deficits. They realized in the 90s it was a genetic disorder,

but until that point they had felt that his delayed development was due to incidents or they didn't really know, but the fragile X wasn't uncovered until the 90s. So my mother says, Stephen will likely never be able to speak. And I remember saying, and this is the serendipity of it. I said, I'll speak for him. I said, he'll never need to speak. And I remember saying, and this is the serendipity of it. I said, I don't, I'll speak for him. I said, he'll never need to speak. I got it. I got it. Like just bring him home and I'll take care of him. And, you know, as, as crazy as that is, it has definitely been, my, my moral compass, my, okay, I got to redirect, you know, how do I get myself aligned with my purpose, my calling? And there's just been time and time again when I'm lost in the sauce

and I'm very reflective of giving a voice to Stephen, giving a voice to those who can't speak for themselves, using my gifts in service of others. So I think it very much shaped the decisions that I ultimately made, if that makes any sense. No, it would have to because I mean, you received a humanitarian award in 2015, correct? What was that for? Yes. You're good.

Of course, the humanitarian side, but what was the actual act of kindness or the great gift you gave to the world to get that award? That's such a good question. Because it all does hinge on the fact that I knew... I had gone on a results for Operation Smile, which fixes cleft lips and cleft palate, children and parts of the world that won't have access to it. I had gone on a humanitarian mission. There's so much to this story, but I'm just going to keep it right here. So I went on a humanitarian mission.

We're not in a hurry to be anywhere. I'll tell you the funny part of this story because it's in alignment with the election total sidebar. So I had gotten a postcard in the mail for Operation Smile and it was to meet the founders. And I was like, oh my God, meet the founders of Operation Smile, I would love to. So I show up, I knock on this door, it's the dead of winter,

and Donald Trump Jr. opens the door. And I'm like, and it's in the middle of The Apprentice. And I'm like, oh, where did I just go? Because this is supposed to be my friend's house. Like I don't understand. When was it? What year was this? This has to be 2007 or eight.

All right. Because you know, I was on The Apprentice. Did you know that? Well, now I do. I was on that show. Yeah, I do. I was on that show. Yeah, I was. Early, my season would have filmed in 2006.

So it's been a minute. Yeah. Okay. So I'm in the mix of apprentice season, so I know- Yeah, there you go. That's so funny. See? All roads.

Anyway, so I ended up going to this Aberration Smile at home meeting, learned more about it. I went on a mission after that. And when I came back from the mission on the flight back, I was like, I can do more. And I'll tell you, there were three rooms on this mission site. And at the end of evaluation, parents are brought into one of these three rooms. Room one and two, they find out about pre surgery post surgery and that their kid is qualified for the surgery.

And remember, these are life changing surgeries here in the United States. Yeah, it's a game changer. And room three, something, something didn't the dots didn't line up and they don't qualify for the surgery that you have to come back the next time. And you would see these parents leave the room and it was awful. And I asked the, our host on the flight back, I said, what happens to room three? What happens to the families? And she said, as long as we keep sponsoring these missions, we'll go back and we'll take care of them the next time around.

Cause these kids could get the K Bosch even if they have like a 99 degree fever. Like there's, they take no risks. Any little thing. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, okay. I'm like, well, I would like to, how do you sponsor a mission? Because Colgate had sponsored ours for $150,000. And I was like, well, I'll raise $150,000. I'd never done that before. But I was like, well, I'll just figure it out. You kind of reverse engineer.

And I've learned that through different iterations of my life of like, all right, where do you want to go? What do you want? Get clear on your destination. And then you got to reverse engineer. I'm like, all right, well, how do people do it? So I kind of was like, I a reverse engineer. I'm like, all right, well, how do people do it? So I kind of was like, I'm doing it. I'm all in. And the thought in the back of my mind that you'll appreciate is that what if that was Steven? What if my

brother needed a sister and didn't have one? What if it was like the Stevens of the world were kind of saying, Hey, you've got a really big mouth. You've got great connections. I had, I'd been part of a sales company that had scaled and I had epic amounts of connections and I was one of the startups. So I knew everyone. And I was like, I think I can leverage my previous work experience and my connections to raise this money. So it ended up just kind of going from there of, all right, I'll figure it out. And it's just like that quote in Frozen,

like just do the next right thing, like take the next right step. So ultimately I've raised the first $150,000 and this is where like the GoGiver book is so good and everybody needs to read it. I really did that mission out of the goodness of my heart. I need to take care of the Stevens of the world. I need to use my voice for those who can't speak for themselves.

The serendipity of it is, soon as we qualified for that next mission, five of my friends that helped me raise the money went on the mission. They come back, they're like, we didn't raise enough money. They start hosting fundraisers. The thing starts taking off, like it was called an adopt a smile campaign.

Next thing you know, I'm raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and they call me and they're like, you deserve our humanitarian of the year award. So much crazy goes on from this because at the end of the day, six months later after getting that award, I got diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. Well, we're going to get to that. I saw that as well. And believe me, we're gonna spend a minute on that.

But I wanna back up a little bit. Because when you went on this mission, I'm assuming you were game play employed, right? So this was something that you just scheduled into your life or how did you make time to give? Cause I think that, you know, I order one every year. I just ordered Jesse Etzler's big ass calendar for 2025. I love Jesse. He's a great, he's a great dude where you schedule your life and then you work around the life you schedule. So so many people I

think wrestle with that, right? So how did you schedule that into your existing busy life? Did you find difficult? That's the thing is that, you schedule things far enough in advance, whether it's a trip, a humanitarian mission, a goal, you put a deadline on it, you'll start working around it. It's never easy, it's never convenient.

There's oftentimes better things that you can be doing with your time in your mind. You're like, oh my God, this is gonna be, I'm going to work for free. But it was something that was something I really had said that I was going to do in this lifetime. That was something I kind of said, you know, I wonder I need to kind of get out of my own echo chambers, my own, you know, recirculated air and

really see how you know, see, see a third world country. Um, so it's never easy, but if it's on your list of things to do and you write it down and you schedule it, you will work around it. It's just, it's, it, but it's gotta be on your list. It's, I talk so much. I have it sitting actually right here. Like I talk so much about journaling and writing things down. And you just talked about Jesse Itzler.

I can't begin to tell you the things that have come to fruition for me probably my whole life. Just the subconscious mind has no sense of humor. So what you put in there will start working towards it. So that, yeah, it's never easy. It's never convenient. You know what my current superpowers is using AI, which I love, right? All these people use AI to make these stupid pictures of Kamala and Trump making out on a beach in the back

of a car. Something stupid, right? The image generators on ChatGBT are the greatest vision board tool in the history of man. I mean, I have four images. I won't get into exactly what they are, but I have four images on the mirror in my gym at my house. And every morning when I'm working out, I look at images and I mean, they're real. I'll tell you one of them.

So I got a book coming out in the not too distant future and I literally have a picture and it's photo realistic, dude. It's like, it looks like it's real. Like I took it with my cell phone and it's photo realistic, dude. It looks like it's real. I took it with my cell phone. And it's my book in Hudson News in the airport, where the little thing ever says bestseller. That's what it's going to look like. But I look at that every single day and I'm like, man, that is just... I feel that every day. And I agree. I think the universe doesn't have any idea of what's real or what's not. You just got to put it out there. I love that concept, which is great.

When you were going and raising all this money, were you talking to businesses about trying to get some sort of a purpose-driven capacity into their scheduled giving into their businesses, which is something that's huge on here? I love that. Is that something you went after? Absolutely. And at the time, the company had no real alignment with charitable giving, believe it or not. People did their individual thing, but they hadn't collectively come together. And it was still a growing... I mean, now that was to 2007, 2008, 2009. I could probably look at the award and read the date, but- That was almost 20 years ago.

It was a long time ago. They said, It's like a long time ago. God, it's a long time ago. Thank you. And really the culture of this generation is very philanthropic. So I had kind of come in at the right time and was willing to champion this cause

and bring people together. And I think people are very drawn to humanitarian work and giving back in this alignment without being too like inconvenienced or put out. And I think I made it a lot of fun. That was another thing. Like I read my audience, I knew who I was catering to and I was like, listen, let's do some softball games, some volleyball games, a fundraiser, you know, bowling, pool nights, whatever, it just became like, who can put together the most fun fundraiser

and team night or whatever pizza night. So it just was in junction because it was a young, young company. With there was a lot of there was a lot of there was a lot of dollar for dollar here. This wasn't like people's strokes and checks for 100 grand. I mean, you were grinding it out. I was grinding it out. It was like make a little money off a lot of people kind of thing. Instead of people writing checks,

really integrating philanthropy into their business instead of like, just check this box and give a dollar, but really talk about the the philanthropy, the work that they do, why we're choosing this one. And, um, I think just I was on, I was in the, I was, um, I think I was on message with this right generation and they really took the ball and ran with it, but I was very passionate. Um, and then like the nuances of figuring out, figuring out administratively how to organize this took a little, that got a little hairy.

So I was like, oh, how do you send the money? I'm like, how does this all go? But again, like you reverse engineer and you figure it out. And that is the blessing of growing up Schwartz is you and growing up with a special needs brother and a bit of a chaotic home. Your resilience levels just through the roof. 100%. And not only that, it's like figure the F out, like make it work. You've got to figure

things out. Like you can't just walk away like with a special needs sibling. You've got to figure things out on the spot. You have to be resilient. You have to be creative and you have to have that, I'm going to make this happen. I'm going to make it work. And that kind of fortitude, resilience, tenacity, I do think gets lost as we make our children's lives very easy and cushy as opposed to- That is the struggle. That is the struggle. I mean, as they say, you know, hard times make great men, great men make good times,

good times make soft men, the cycle repeats. And soft men make hard times. And it just repeats. And how old are your kids? You got kids? Yes? Your mother's three, you said that earlier. Mother's three, you said that earlier.

How old are your children? I'm just kidding. 19, 20 and 13. Okay, well 13. You still got Matt Homer and Zora to the house, which is fine. My biggest fear in life is raising worthless kids. It's like, and you catch yourself when you're like, dude, because my kids now are 17 and 15, or my daughter's almost 15. But I can remember little moments like when it's six years old, my son had an opinion on airlines. Like, Oh shit, you know, this is not good, right?

I got to reel this back. And, you know, we got to try to create as much adversity as we can for them. And we've kind of done it through sports, which is good. I, it's why I love sports for the kids. But I think, you know, so many people have that issue with they're not getting that resilience. I mean, I tell people at times, that's my superpower. Like, like resilience is absolutely my superpower. When I was on The Apprentice, several seasons after I was done, the show psychologist or psychiatrist or whatever she was, Dr. Liza Siegel wrote

a book called Sweet Success or something, whatever it was about the show and about the psychology of the contestants. and she called and said she want to interview me I said why? Why me after all these contestants? And she goes you scored higher on resilience than any contestant ever had and I'm gonna rock. And I was like cool so I mean I'm officially certified I think in that group of people who are all super type-8 success people that's my superpower so I tell people I I just, nothing, nothing gets in front of me and gets me down. But I do, but this, this, that was such a

good segue, man. I love when I just solid segue show. Yes. So talking about resilience and nothing getting you down. Here you go. You're doing what you love. You're raising all this money. Things are going great. Amazingly good in the world of Barbara. And then something happens that nobody would ever expect to happen, which is what? I got diagnosed at 42 in 2015 with stage three colon cancer. I mean, that's just wild. What is that day like? What is that day like? Well, you need to know is on the heels of my marriage falling apart. So I-

Oh, so bonus time. Okay. Yeah, there you go. It's funny because I'm like, you know, oh my goodness, like I need to. Let's back into that. Hang on. When your marriage was falling apart, was that taking a heavy emotional toll on you already? Or was that something you're kind of like, we talked about it, was it one of those progressive, we talked about it and we're gonna uncouple and everybody's kind of okay? Or was it like the, it was like our parents good old 1970s divorce, which one was?

Which one? Yeah, somewhere in between. It was definitely like out of an old soap opera and I didn't see it coming. It was more on his end and it was a, it just ended in like a dumpster fire, blaze of glory that I was very blindsided by of like, oh, I did not plan for this.

And as I'm kind of recalibrating for my new normal, I get this cancer diagnosis. And I can remember the doctor telling me and I'm like in such denial. I'm like, I really don't have the bandwidth for this diagnosis, right? Not a good time for this. Not a good time for this. Not a good time for this. My husband at the time was very good through it. We were in marriage therapy, I was in chemotherapy, I mean, I did all the things. And it was and my kids were young. I mean, two out of my three kids still believed in the tooth fairy in Santa Claus. That's young to be diagnosed. And it was tough. Were the doctors telling you like, get your stuff in order? I mean, was it that kind of diagnosis?

It was like, we're going to see where we're at, or they're saying you're going to beat this. Where was your head based on the information you're getting? Stage three is a dicey one, but it's better than stage four. I have had very strong odds for sure, but I had great odds, I think. Anything that's not stage four, I think I had that's not stage four, I think I had great, great her odds of survivorship. So it was more of like, don't get you just get get down to the work. Like I was like, I don't want to do chemo. And they're like, you know, that it's like a non negotiable. You got to have surgery, you got to have six months of chemo. And you're I was young, I just finished the New York City Marathon, like the year before. I mean, I was not. I just wasn't really I was like, I did all the right things. Like this is very

rude. And but the universe is always conspiring in your favor when you can get through something there's in your favor. I mean, in your favor. I like that. In a very serendipitous way. I think I needed to, you grow through what you go through. I needed that in my life and the timing was crazy and it wasn't easy or fun, but it really allows you to take a good hard look at your life and what you want and who you are and how are you going to

live your very best life? You're the master of your own destiny. You're in charge. And it did. Being confronted with your own mortality does give you this, all right, how do I live out the best the next best if I get another shot and I survive cancer? What am I doing with it? Like, like, how am I living at the highest expression of myself and I did ice chemo and me we were no bueno. I did not do well in chemo. I got violently ill. And there was a moment where I was like, what if I don't make it? In the beginning, I'm like, I've got this and I looked up the statistics and I'm like, if she survived this, I can survive that. And then about on my eighth or ninth round of chemo, I was like, I need to take stock

of this situation and get real with myself because this really does suck. And I had a funny revelation in that I was like, if I don't make this, what do I want my kids to remember about me? And I started reflecting on all these things. The humanitarian award is one of them. I put myself through college. I started a business. I was part of a startup that ultimately scaled,

did very well with that. I wanted them to know certain things. And I thought through that, I was like, oh, everything that I'm proud of, that I want my kids to remember, I wanted to quit. Putting myself through college was brutal, horrible. The startup I was part of, I went door to door is selling telecommunications. I mean, it

was really hard. And scaled it from there. But I always wanted to quit. And whenever I wanted to quit, I thought, if I quit, I can't take care of Stephen, even when I was doing that fundraising for the humanitarian work. This is really hard. And like, some people like just it wasn't going as quickly and expeditiously as I had envisioned. There was the nuance that I talked about earlier with administration. I was like, oh, this is a beast. I hadn't really calculated for.

Anytime I wanted to quit, I was like, what about Steven? You got to make it work. In that moment, I realized, wow, I'm so fortunate to have Stephen to take care of, because otherwise I would have quit all these great things. And it was at that same moment, I was like, it was never really me taking care of Stephen as much as it was Stephen who is taking care of me. Of you. Well, there's so much to unpack from that, dude. It's like, first of all, of all, our friend, Jessie Lee, I don't know if you know who that is. She was an incredibly successful multi-level marketing.

I was in a mastermind group with her and we just passed the one-year anniversary for passing from exactly what you had. And none of us, none of us in our group, none of us, would ever even thought that it was possible she was going to die. None of us in our group, none of us, would ever even thought that it was possible she was gonna die. I never, when that post went up, I'm still shook over that one. I gotta be honest, that one does not math for me.

The math is not math. No, it was wild. And so there is an element of, you know, what man, we're all just dangling on strings here and it could be gone in a second. And, you know, one of my favorite quotes, and I don't know who said it, as I'm recalling it now, every time I say it, it's one of my favorite quotes. I don't know who says it, it's tough. I just know I like it. But it says like, you know, it says a man has two lives. It has the lives up until the moment he realizes he's not immortal, and then what he

chooses to do with his time after that. And I think that's one of the things. And the fact that you understood that you always kept that why, were very clear on your why, very focused on that, I think is probably what really shapes you, what a lot of people fall down is because they haven't identified their why. Not comparing stuff, I just, it's just, I'm getting crushed with it right now as I think about this. So, it's funny, I'm one of those guys that I'm on a lot of stages and I do those things and you see these stories and the other speakers

that go up before you after you there and like, here's my soul crushing story of David Goggins gets up there and just lays out this horrible, horrendous childhood. And I'm like, yeah, that's second. I'm like, man, having to grow up on the second hole of the golf course instead of the 18th or the first, the walk to the clubhouse is further. Yeah, nobody gives a shit about my story, right?

So I was saying to myself, even though through all of the things in my life, I've never had any real great adversity. And I got zapped with something like a year ago, and I'm dealing with right now. And, and hopefully I took four MRIs on Monday, and hopefully I'll find out exactly what her course of action is. But I have something called Trimal Genital Neurology. I always want it. Be careful what you wish for is the moral of this story. Like you want that adversity. Okay, okay, Universe, here's some adversity. I got something called Trimal Genital Neurology, where you have a nerve in your face, right? And it misfires. It's a neurological thing. But literally, if I go outside right now and the wind blows on my left eyelashes,

it feels like somebody's tasing me with a taser. I get electrocuted. And as we're sitting here talking, I keep getting zapped. So if I make a weird face, that's kind of what it is, is I'm literally sitting here getting electrocuted. Yeah, I'm going to get fixed. We got a meeting on Monday. But yeah, there's my adversity that you need to be careful to wish for because the universe will serve it up to you in space. Well, like you said, you test high on resiliency. So your perception of maybe what you've tried, you've had to overcome, figure out transverse is probably minimized in your own perception because you're like, I just have to, I've

got to get, I'm getting through this. I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to make it happen. So there's that, that makes sense to me that you're saying that. I love when I, when I tell people about this and I'm so kind of jipper about it. And then they look it up and they're like, dude, this is called the suicide ailment. I'm like, yeah, it kind of sucks. It's interesting. You know, we're working on it, but I'm bringing a voice to all those out there are going to go like and get it on their face today. I'm getting it fixed. I'm going to get this. There's a couple things we can do. I'm getting it fixed. But back to this. So you get through the cancer. You fight your way through the end of it.

And then it's the end of it. I mean, you got to have that moment when you know you're out of the woods, when you're like, okay, cool. Like I did all I did aid. I did a lot of A to Z and my first life. What am I going to focus on on life number two? Did you have that moment? Absolutely. Absolutely. So I, you know, I'm really coming to grips with my own mortality as I'm like getting

through the end of chemo and recognizing that I was given like this great gift, like the gift of purpose, I was given no backdoor, no quit, figure it out, make it work. Because if you don't, your brother is going to be institutionalized, right? Like if I don't figure out how to make, you know, personal wealth, and I don't figure out how to do well for myself, and I don't make this. My brother's gonna be an award of the state. Get your head out of your rear end and figure it out. And recognizing that I had been gifted such an immeasurable gift, really I said to myself, I'm like, if I survive cancer, I will never play small again. I will forever use my voice to speak for those who can't speak for themselves.

That is what I was meant to do. It wasn't just about a Steven that I would speak for him, but I'm supposed to use and amplify my voice to give a voice to others. And when I got to the other side of cancer, I remember thinking I was like, okay, and I was sitting in this very seat. I'm like, all right, Babs, Babs is my badass bitch self, BABS. I was like, okay, and I was sitting in this very seat. I'm like, all right, Babs. Babs is my badass bitch self. Baby. I'm like, all right, Babs. Yeah, I feel it. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, I get it. I like it. What you're gonna do with your badass self. And I'm like, I think I want to go on television. I literally was like, you know, I think I need I need a bigger platform. I

need more exposure. I need. I need to get back out there again and do something and mind you I'd never done television and I was like Okay, I'll go on TV. Okay, so like you're doing your vision board. I wrote it down I was like I want to be on the Today Show this life is so funny I wrote down I want to be on the Today Show This is a girl with a degree in community health education who is a door to door sales girl who scaled sales teams and randomly decided to run a fundraiser and do fundraising. Nowhere in this resume of Barbara Majewski does it read television personality, but I'm like, I'm 43 now and now I would like to be a television personality. Wait, wait.

I mean, let's call it, okay, let's call Spain a spade. 43 ain't exactly the age to break into the old television game either. If we're being honest about what we're talking about, not exactly the age you want to break in. So I think that's not hurtling it to you as well. You would think so. But see, I just reframed all of it, And I was like, I don't know unless you go like I have a very great way to kind of talk myself into stuff of like, you don't know unless you go and unless you try things. So I never like, I'm sure that went through my head, like, who do I think I am? And like, all that like you're in your 40s. Nobody wants like everybody wants everyone their 20s. But I was like, Listen, I don't know that I have to I'd rather

take a no, then an I don't know. And I love that. Right? Like I'd rather just be told you're too old, as opposed to me assuming that or you're not a match for us. And it's been unbelievable. So here's the serendipity. Again, I write down that I want to be on the Today Show. I go and I'm like, well, I guess how do you be on TV? You have to go back to school and learn how to be on television or you go hire a media trainer. So I end up on Instagram and I find this media trainer. And so Im her and I'm like, you don't even know what to say to people or didn't know I didn't I picked up the phone and I called her. But let me just tell you, I wrote her name down for a good month before I could find the

chops to be like, Hey, like, yeah, I don't know. I was a little nervous. Let's work together. Yes, you have to come up with your word. So we're on the phone. I'm on the phone with our assistant. She goes, I like the sound of your voice. And she goes, what's your name? I said, Barbara Majewski. She enters my name into the computer and a Google search comes up. And at this time, I'm not Google searchable, except for one thing. I want a humanitarian word where I spoke on stage. There's your little foothold. She pulls the video.

That's the only thing that got me in the door. So Amy Rosenblum grabs the phone from her assistant. She goes, you do public speaking? I'm like, yeah, I'll speak. I don't care. I'll do whatever. She goes, I want you in here this week. I'd love to meet you. I go in to meet her. She's the former executive producer of the Today Show. My very first booking after going through training was the Today Show. And if you Google, you see I've been on there several, several times throughout the web. But the message in this is like, recently I read The Go Giver and it's such a good book. I didn't do that humanitarian work so that I could get access to the Today show. I did it because it was the right thing to do. And if sometimes when you're lost and you know, escaping the drift, I think this is super important. Live a life of service, live a life of giving back and when

you're lost in the sauce, can you go to that space of how can I use my experiences to help others and get out of my own way and start getting more clarity and more gratitude? Because that humanitarian award not only led me to the Today Show in a very funny way, I had gotten that award with Johnson & Johnson. They were the corporate humanitarian award. When I was diagnosed with cancer, the CEO, Alex Skorsky, his assistant Danielle, saw, because I'd posted on Facebook that I had cancer, and she called me and said, Alex Skorsky, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson, thank you, was like, whatever you need, Johnson & Johnson, you're back. Wow. I was like, well, now I Johnson and Johnson at the back. Wow. I was like, well, now I can't die because I got Johnson and Johnson.

Yeah. You're like, hello, Mayo Clinic. I'd like to buy the soccer you have. Cedar Sinai, room for one, please. I couldn't even like, I was like, oh, this is, I mean, so again, like, you're escaping the drift and understanding, like, you know, we all go adrift and we all get lost in the sauce. Sometimes we just have to go back to how can I live a life of service? How

can I give back and serve those at a space that resonates for me because we all have certain experiences. And maybe it is getting tasered in the eye where you learn how to serve and help others through that. There's so many layers to it. Other than being able to power a small village with sticking a light bulb in my mouth, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to help anybody with this. But it's funny. I remember who it was. Gosh, just another thing. It's the guy that was on stage, same event I was doing a long time ago. He was talking about when he and his father

would be down and out, down their last dollar, right? They live in a one bedroom apartment, sells before they found success. And they're down to the last five bucks. His dad would say, time to go give, time to go give. Let's go give this money away. And he'd be like, we're going to give away our last $5. He's like, yes, we are, because it will come back.

If we go out and we focus on giving, it will come back. At 100%, the more you give, the more you get, which is so cliche, but it is so karmically real. And I remember hearing about this group of kids in like a very urban area, very poor area, and they were always taking handouts. And this teacher came in and was like, we're going to go ahead and help others in the community. And so they reversed it and it ended up really empowering them and it was just a game changer for the trajectory of their life. So always remember,

you do have gifts and you are, you are, we're meant to live a life of service. We're meant to use our gifts to serve and help others. And I think that's what's always really rerouted me at all times of like, I got to get back to, I got to get back to what I'm going to most feel my legacy is about. Well, it's funny. It's funny. We're going to segue again because this is a good segue point for this, which is, you know, talking about being of service to others. And I look at, again, bringing the election back into this a little bit.

I find the people that were most upset about the results today, the people that, to me, were, you know, and there was, if you go on Twitter, there's just streams of people just bawling over whatever perceived thing we're going to do. And if I had to put one thing in common for all of these people, blindly without knowing any of them, but just basically just saying, this is a box I'm going to put you in, I'm going to say victim is a huge box for all of them. They're a personal victim. And to me, people that put themselves in the victim box have no sense of personal accountability. And I know that that is something that has become very important to you in helping others achieve. So let's talk about that.

It's so real. You've just just I identify with what you're talking about so much because I do feel that, you know, you can't change what's going on, that crying, falling apart, have your moment, have your moment, and then proceed. You know, it's not going to change anything. What's the great quote? You can't control the waves, but you can learn how to surf. And just being able to understand like taking inventory of what you have control over and you don't have control over you have control over your attitude, your work ethic and your intention of what you're working towards like control

focus on those things. And the rest will fall in place. And I do, I read JD Vance's book. This is where my life is. Amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing. I read it early on. Did you read it when I first saw it? Oh dude, I read it, Tim Ferriss put it on his mailing list, which I love Tim Ferriss's mailing list. Yeah. And what I'm reading right now, Hillbill Elegy, I'm like, what does this book, Hillbill, the name caught me. And I got the book way before Ron Howard ever knew it existed.

And it was just, I read it on a flight. I think I read it from a flight from New York to LA, and I think it was four hours. I just pounded the whole book down. And amazing, amazing what that guy has overcome. It's incredible. Amazing. And the takeaway, and I'm sure this will align with you, resonate with you, my takeaway. Now I read it when it first came out.

I don't know when that was. But the takeaway is what he figured out in growing up in Appalachia is that there was a systemic mindset that it was never their fault. So if they got fired from a job, even though they were always late or they never showed up on time or they didn't, they were no call, no show when they ultimately got fired, everyone had the same narrative. Like the, it was their fault and you know, who do they think they are? And like, and everybody fed into this narrative and for whatever reason, JD Vance was able to look at that because he was able to say well You you kind of sucked as an employee and you got fired

And I remember this like I like I read it yesterday thinking Wow, that is like so profound and being able to say you know what? I'm the master of my own destiny if I I constantly blame everyone else, I'm never going to solve the I'm never going to solve their problems. It is such a great message to really start saying, like, where what could you have done better? You know, where can you take accountability? And I think this next generation is definitely struggling with that

because there's very much like this oppressor and victim and the oppressed. And like, you've got to fall in that paradigm. You can, you know, which is not serving this generation at all. Like you got to, everybody's got to be a victim. Otherwise they're the oppressor. These are your options. Well, I don't want to be an oppressor. I want to be the victim. So maybe just always feed the victim narrative. Like I have, it's super frustrating. You can't always bring colonialism into your everyday life. You didn't lose your job at the quickie mark because the British took over the Virgin Islands. You can't get there. You can try, but it doesn't get there. I find the easiest first step in personal accountability for anybody is to change One word one phrase in there waiting your everyday life

Which is if you're not gonna do something stop saying I can't and say I choose not to Like oh you should you should lose weight. Okay. I just can't lose weight. No, no, no you choose not to I Just write on time to go to the gym. No, no, no you choose not to choose not to. I just can't find time to go to the gym. No, no, no. You choose not to. Oh, I can't, I can't find the job. No, no, no, no. You're choosing not to. There's a lot of things. And if you just change that one phrase, it first will sting, but then can become incredibly powerful because when you realize that you are the master of your own destiny, you are the captain of your own ship. It becomes a little bit more fun to live. Absolutely.

Like you said, when you're a passenger, it sucks. How many people are out there in the passenger seat of this one-away car of life they're in? And how terrifying and miserable must that be? I know you have this 14- day accountability plan people can get. Talk to me about that. I'm just curious. Yeah. No, I love doing it there. Three W's, the water walking and writing.

It's just a great, I do resets for people of like, all right, let's get organized. Like when you're drifting out to see where the best place is to start. Well, for me, it's always grab the pen, grab the notebook, and let's start getting organized. And I think when you do things with a team, it makes it that much more like accountable. Like it's like, all right, we're going to do this together. I need to see your post and your steps. And it's just these three W's that really do get you to a better place. There's nothing like walking. Walking is hands down the best exercise that anybody on earth can do. 10,000 steps a day easily. And when you start getting like conscientious, right?

I'm at 82.65 right now already. You're going to hit it because now it's- I hit it every day. Yeah, every day. I think all of us do drift and I'm like, all right, let's do a reset. I want you to do in 10,000 steps a day, you're going to drink water, you're going to walk and you're going to write for 14 straight days. And each day I you know, go live and I talk about different things in personal development and help them help organize thoughts. So it's great. It's easy, it's manageable. It's not like, you know, 75 hard I think is amazing,

but so many people don't complete it. And it just validates these storylines in ourselves of like, I'm a failure. I don't finish what I start. Whereas I'm like, this is something you're gonna start and you're gonna finish and you're probably going to do it again. So I'm really big on helping people take those steps, those incremental steps to optimizing themselves. Well, I do a guest podcast that comes out every Tuesday and it was Solar Pod that comes out

Thursday. Solar Pod is much shorter than this. But I talked a couple of weeks ago about my daily routine because people ask, right? They're like, how do you get so much stuff done? What's your daily routine? I'm like, bro, I don't get up at four o'clock in the morning and get an ice bath. That ain't me. That's not what I do. And it's okay if you don't do it either, right?

It's like the entrepreneur culture, if you don't get up at 4 a.m. or 3 30, you don't have to do that. You just need a routine that works for you. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing. This is about what's good for you. I think so many people get caught up in, like you said, 75 hours. And it's been so many, many times. A wonderful dude. And it's a great program for people to complete it. I'm proud of you. Yes. Probably not for me, right? Because quite frankly, dude, if I'm going to you. Um, probably not for me, right? Cause cause cause quite, cause quite frankly, dude, if I'm going to go out to a, to a really

expensive dinner and I want to drink a glass of wine, I'm gonna go out to wine because I just want to learn to do right. It's just, you know, I'm not a heavy drinker, but I want that option. And I don't think that's hurting me for day. I don't, so whatever. Um, but yeah, it's just about having a routine that works for you. So is the more Life Collective, is the 14 day accountability

like the first step of getting into that? Or let's talk about that. What is More Life Collective? Yeah, so you know, I have these accountability challenges in the More Life Collective, and it was just something I started to help other people. I felt like I was getting the same questions over and over again of like, I am just lost in the sauce.

I don't know what I want. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know who I am. You know, I'm bordering on depression. I've gained weight. I'm not, I'm not optimized. I'm not living my best life and I don't even know where to start. And I think a lot of people get, you know, we get, you know, by the, by the stair master or by the gym membership or by the supplement and you're sold the outcomes. And there's this gap between like building the habits, building the patterns, the neuromuscular pathways of automating good habits. And I've just, I realized that I'm like, my mother used to buy like Weight Watchers memberships and gym memberships, and then I've just, I realized that I'm like, like my mother used to buy like Weight Watchers memberships and gym memberships. And then they would just, her goals would

never materialize because there's a gap between making the purchase and getting the results and it's the doing. So I really wanted to focus on that, that middle ground, that the doing part and not have people invest in another Peloton or Stairmaster or weight loss supplement or fitness, blah, blah, blah. I wanted to teach people that how, not just the why, you know your why, you want to look good, you want to be fit all the things. I want to give you the how. That was my jam. That's been my jam of like, let me help you just stop buying things to get the things. You got to do the things to get the things. So I started that more life collectivist do the things to get the things you can't just buy it. So there's nothing in my program

to really buy except the 14 day accountability. I sometimes I do them live. They are some of them are automated. I haven't done one in a while. I really wanted to get through this election. There's people out there today, they're looking for some help. I need to, I used to do Christmas and like the holidays. Oh boy. Yeah, poor Rachel. Matt out today is in a safe space somewhere. I'm sure she's having a meltdown. But some of the meltdowns I like. Some of the meltdowns are very disruptive, but I was like, okay. Well for me, it's how am I getting organized and getting on the thing and how is the why?

For me, I like to take the resistance out of anything. Like for example, and granted, I understand that I'm in a certain economic bracket that I can make some stuff happen that other people might not be able to understand that. I'm not talking down to anybody. I'm in a certain economic bracket that I can make some stuff happen that other people might not be able to understand that I'm not talking down to anybody. I'm not. Oh, oh, sure, John, you can do whatever you want. That's not what I'm trying to do. But like, for example, the gym, you know what I hated the most about the gym? Driving to the gym. I hated it. Parking, parking. Parking at the gym drove me crazy, which is the dumbest thing because you're like, you're going to exercise anyway, you have to walk far, blah, blah, blah. So I do. I built a gym at my house. which is the dumbest thing. Because you're like, you're going to exercise anyway. You have to walk far, blah, blah, blah.

So I do. I built the gym at my house. Now I walk downstairs every morning. I go to the gym in my house. Right. I want to watch TV. That's not good for me. Right.

So I just attach that vice of occasionally I want to watch TV to the only time I watch TV is if I'm on the treadmill. It's the only time I watch TV. So when I watch something, I got to walk to do it, which is why I always hit my steps. Right. So for me, it's about trying to connect my vices, whatever they might be with something sort of positive or taking the path of least resistance to the best choices I can make. 100%. And in my programs, what I do every once in a while, if I do like a 90 day or whatever, I encourage people to do coffee walks. If I do like a 90 day or whatever, I incorporate, I encourage

people to do like coffee walks. Like instead of meeting your friend for coffee, grab a coffee and go for a walk. And there is no bad weather. There's only bad clothing. So don't tell me it rained. I don't care. I walked in chemo in the rain because that was my vice of like, I can't work out because of the nausea, but I can walk and walking help the nausea but it's so true. You've got to make it work for you and this is why I do love 75 hard for all those that need just a massive reset and discipline and to get you know get themselves reorganized and that's their jam. But my my big problem is it kind of sets up a lot of people for failure because it's just so not sustainable. You's just not very, I mean, I don't want to

work out twice a day. I need showering twice a day. I can't even now. But I like to set things up like you that are sustainable, realistic, enjoyable. And I almost tricked myself into do it. And the best thing is for people who just can't get out of their own way and they're like, whatever, I might go for a coffee walk. It is you get two women on a coffee walk, they might never come back. I mean, we are just like, so I think, I think it comes down to, I think the word goal is a dirty word for me. And I don't like the word goal. And I'll tell you what, I use this analogy all the time is that first, that first press conference with every NFL coach midway through training camp. And they go, coach, what are your goals

for this year? And they're like, goals are to make the playoffs and go to the Superbowl. Every single one of them, all 32 of them will say the same thing. That coach knows his quarterback sucks. He already knows it is impossible for them to achieve that. But yet they still throw it out there as a goal. And so many people throw these things out there that are just not even there. So I prefer the word commitment. In my sales organizations, my teams, my businesses that I do, it's always every weekly, what is your commitment this week? What are you committed to getting done? And this ain't something you hope is going to get done. This is a, I'm going to be awake at 1159, the day before I got to come back and see you and figuring out how I can accomplish this because it is a have to. And I think

when you, when you get away from the word goal, which I think has gotten diluted and watered down to something absolutely committed to doing, I think you're better off. I agree. And finding out what that is. And they've got some great, who is it? Brian, who I'm forgetting his name right in this moment. But he gives us a great piece of advice, write 10 things down and then circle the one that most sticks out for you that you want to accomplish over the next six months, over the year, whatever that might be, and then focus all your energy towards it. Again, reverse engineering of what you want. It's amazing what you can get done and what you can accomplish when you start putting your mind towards something. It starts with getting clear on what does this life look like to you? For anybody that that's listening that just is like,

I had no idea. One thing that I always love telling people to do, I don't know if I have something good over here to show, but I'll have people, I'll like, okay, do that. This is my one act. I'm like, go to the bookstore, go to the magazine section and go buy five magazines, whether it's travel or homes or DIY or I don't know what is your

let the magazines come to you. Get lost in the magazine section by five or six, whatever you want. Take them home, start cutting out pictures, start getting those visuals. Like I don't know, this is like, look, I don't know, maybe you want to be a size zero. I don't know. this is like, look, I don't know, maybe you wanna be a size zero, I don't know. Maybe you wanna go hiking the Himalayas and start creating this like vision board for yourself. Maybe it's a house, maybe it's vacations. Life was meant to be lived. There's nothing you can't have if you're willing to do the work.

That's- But like I said earlier, I would go back and I would take that now and I'd say, okay, this is what I would do. I would say if I want to go hiking in the Himalayas, I wouldn't, I wouldn't cut a picture of the Himalayas out and put it on a vision board. I would go to Chad GBT and I would say, make a picture of a hand holding an airline ticket with my name on it.

One way to Nepal. Make that where I can look at that and I can say, man, there's my name on an airline ticket and dude, it'll spin it out. But yeah, make it that real that appealing. And I think going that far, but also I think when people are doing that stuff, right. I think one exercise they don't do enough is they don't go deep enough in the why. Right? Like, come tell me comes to wants to work with me, you know, where'd you go?

I'm gonna make $250,000. I don't care about that because you're never gonna hit that unless there's a why behind it. Like you, it's down to the end of taking care of your brother. But a lot of people are like, oh, because I want 250 because I wanna buy, I mean, I'm just gonna make so much,

I don't want to be terrible. But let's say, because I wanna buy a Porsche GTR. Okay, why do you want a Porsche GTR? Because I've always wanted a Porsche GTR. What's that? A private plane. There you go, private plane. Which I do not advise to do that.

I've done that, it's not good. It's not, it's fun for a minute, but then it's very sensitive. I would not be able to find that. But yeah, you kind of get back to like, well, why do you want to force GTR? Because I've always wanted one. Well, why have you always wanted one?

And it comes down to because I want it can be as, you got to get to the, you got to be real with yourself. It can be as petty as when I was a kid in high school, everybody had a cool car and they laughed at my Ford Escort with the broken door with the wired up. And I want people to look at me and feel, I want to know what it feels like for others to look at me and feel envious. Well, dude, that's a real emotion, whether it's positive or not, I don't care. But I can tap into that and say, okay, let's like, let's make people jealous of you. And that will drive people to accomplish their goals. But

you got to be honest with yourself. Yeah, I think and there's nothing wrong like things were meant to be experienced. I think we try to put things out. Well, that's materialistic. I'm like like things were meant to be experienced. I think we try to put things over. That's materialistic I'm like that we were meant to Enjoy the fruits of life that the the big things in life and my dad is crazy Again grown-up Schwartz would take us to Ferrari dealerships We were live we had a van and we were living at my uncle's house in California and he would take us to Newport Beach to go look at Ferraris. I know the dealership.

Yeah. Can you imagine we'd park our little dank van around the corner that had no seats in it and go with my special needs brother and go look at Ferraris. My dad would say, because I was like, we don't even have a place to live right now and we're driving around a van, but yet here we are looking at Tester Roses. But okay, his philosophy was someone has to buy these. You just have to figure out what they did

to get what they have and do those things. That's it. He's like, it wasn't like they're just gifted or they must be nice or who do they think? My dad had a very clear way of making it very simple. Someone's got to buy it. Someone figured it out. You just have to do what they did to get what they have.

And because he never put it on like they inherited or they were lucky, it had nothing to do, it had everything to do with do the things to get the things. Do the things to get the things. Do the things to get the things. And that's where why I ended up in entrepreneurship and building and scaling a business and why I do the things. And then you want to be on TV? Do the things that are going to get you on TV. Don't wait for television to come to you. Don't wait the Porsches and coming to you. Do the things to get the things. And that's, but I think there's one thing we skipped over about your television thing, which we didn't talk about, which was, didn't you hawk your wedding ring to pay for that? Like you burn the boats.

Yeah. So I mean, I could have taken that wedding ring and done a lot of things. It was a pretty nice ring, but I took my sold my wedding ring. You did your due diligence, and yes, sold my wedding ring. And I put that towards me, me, like a media trainer. And I have been like all in on how do I, what does it mean for me, Barbara Majewski, to live her best life? And I've just, and we all have different iterations of what we have, what we want at any given time. So it's just, it's been fun to be part of the journey of like,

now I'm looking at getting a realtor's license, going back to law school. Like to me, nothing is off the table. I just don't, I don't care how old I am. I just feel like if I wanna do it, and if I'm willing to do the work, there's nothing I can't do. I just have to be willing to do the work.

I did take a flight lesson to learn how to become a pilot and I wanted to sleep the second I got into the air. I was like, piloting is not for me. Dude, I love that. My business partner, my wife is so funny, my business partner for the first four years when we were business open, it was just handshake. We just we've been friends long time. It's business going and the operating agreement just going back and forth and we're just never like I would make a revision. I'd send it to him and sit on for six months and then he'd make a revision.

I could meet him for six months. It's more of like four years. In the meantime, my partner is also a semi-professional race car driver. His wife is buying him helicopter pilot lessons for Christmas. My wife is like, can you please get this on paper with it? Yeah. Yeah. Or die. You're not going to have anything on paper. But anyway, dude, it was such a joy talking to you today.

I loved it. I loved every minute of it. If they want to find you and connect with you, learn more about your coaching programs, all the things that you can do, how do they find you? Barbara Majewski.com or Instagram at Barbara Majewski. I think it's the same for TikTok. And yeah, those are the best places to find me. I'm a little more sassy on Twitter, so don't look me up there. I love it. I love it. I love it. Well, thanks so much, Barbara. Thank you. If you guys were on this today, man, I hope that fired you up and just understand, dude, life is going

to throw you some curveballs. And it's just going to and how you deal with that how you overcome how you face that adversity head on. No, like I say this all the time, dude, but it's like my favorite line from Die Hard. Nobody's coming to save you. Gotta save yourself. We'll see you next week. What's up, everybody?

Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as I did out of it. Anyway, if you want to learn more about the show, you can always go over to escapingthedrift.com. You can join our mailing list, but do me a favor, if you wouldn't mind,

throw up that five star review, give us a share, do something, man, we're here for you. Hopefully you'll be here for us. But anyway, in the meantime, we will see you at the next episode.